Tune in the Weekend: ‘Mad Men'

March 23, 2012Updated: March 23, 2012 2:38pm

After a prolonged hiatus, “Mad Men” (8 p.m. Sunday, AMC, TV-14) returns with a two-hour episode that sets out to answer some questions. Chief among them: How will everybody adjust to Don's (Jon Hamm) impetuous proposal to his secretary, Megan (Jessica Pare)?

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Megan's vitality immediately changes the chemistry of the show and the social hierarchy at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. She drags the characters further into the pop culture of the late 1960s, especially affecting the dynamics of the female characters. Peggy (Elisabeth Moss), always the series' proto-feminist striver, seems more embittered. Joan (Christina Hendricks), originally seen as a throwback to the 1950s, just may be the biggest “career gal” of all. Don's ex-wife, Betty (January Jones), does not appear in the premiere, but Don does refer to her and her older husband, Henry, as “Morticia and Lurch” when dropping off the kids. And no conversation about “Mad Men” and its female leads would be complete without mentioning Don and Betty's daughter, Sally (Kiernan Shipka), one of the more complex adolescent characters ever to appear on television.

Has Don Draper lost his edge? His old boss, Roger (John Slattery), has. His rapier wit takes a tone of savage self-deprecation that is often more sad than funny.

Viewers can compare and contrast the original British version of “Being Human” (8 p.m. today, BBC America, Time Warner 225, TV-14) with Syfy's American adaptation (7 p.m. and 8 p.m. today, r, TV-PG).

Today's highlights﻿﻿

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